Recommendations to Jaycee Community Center (Agency):
Our group enjoyed working with Dan and Amy due to their openness and willingness to help us out in any way possible. They allowed us free reign to do whatever programs we wanted to do and did not give us a budget. Although this was amazing and it provided us the chance to be creative, it provided a false view of what is is like to plan a program under a budget constraint. Therefore, we did not get the experience of planning and staying within a budget. A future recommendation would be to give groups a realistic budget (large or small), and allow the students to figure out how to plan a state of the art program on a dime, because this is something that program planners have to deal with everyday and is a valuable skill to have under our belts.
Another recommendation that our group has is that Jaycee could broaden the spectrum of programs and events that they can put on. They could target many different users such as people with special needs or disabilities as well doing things for the senior age group. Since they have the available sites, there are many opportunities to expand into different populations. We feel that Jaycee does a lot with youth and adults, so if they expanded and focused in on other groups it could help Jaycee gain more people to their facilities.
Jaycee does a great job at providing opportunities to the community through programs that engage people at Jaycee specifically. Jaycee could potentially focus on utilizing other locations, such as Fletcher Park and Glen Eden Pilot Park to show people the other facilities that are available for recreation. This is a great opportunity for Jaycee to show its impact not only at their home site but at other locations. We didn’t use them for our programs but if we could go back and do some things differently we might try and broaden the use of those facilities. Being a place like Jaycee, you have so many options for how and where you engage the community.
Recommendations to future PRT 358 groups working with this agency:
When working with agency, groups have a lot of opportunities for unique events. First in planning the two programs, figure out what skills or passions you have within the group. Then, find ways you can incorporate these together to build a great program.
Think about the program from the perspective of your participants to assess appropriateness.
Don’t be afraid to come up with outlandish ideas because they can be the best.
You have a variety of clientele, you can work with elderly, young, families, students, take advantage of this.
Make sure to be extra detail oriented when planning and have a clear understanding of the plan among all group members.
Start documentation early and update it often.
Start the website early and if you don't like the layout change it.
When you are dividing up tasks for individuals, hold each other responsible.
Be proactive in trying to get donations.
Remember your target audience and make sure all group members feel confident in interacting with the population.
When actually delivering the program be sure to be confident and have fun with each other.